Francisco Lindor was uncharacteristically shaky at shortstop on Tuesday night, with his second error of the game leading to the game-winning runs for the Marlins.
The typically sure-handed infielder booted a grounder in the second inning that didn’t come back to bite the Mets, but two innings later, another misplayed grounder led to a rally that ended with a two-run double off the bat of Graham Pauley, breaking a 2-2 tie and sending New York to its third loss in four games to begin the season.
The pair of errors led to Kodai Senga adding to his pitch count in his first outing of the season, but when asked about the uncharacteristically rough defense up the middle behind him, the righty had the perfect answer.
“Since the day I signed with this team, Lindor has always been there,” Senga told reporters through his interpreter after the 4-2 defeat. “He’s always supported me and given me words of encouragement…Not just me but the whole team. When he makes a mistake, I need to be there to pick him up. Not only him, but everyone else on the team.
“It was my fault to make his errors be highlighted because of my poor performance.”
Senga’s comments were the ultimate team-first remarks that fans want to hear, but in reality, he was mainly very solid in his first start of the season. Senga struck out eight in five innings of work while walking just one, and six of his punchouts came via his trademark ghost fork, including striking out the side in the third, retiring all three batters with his patented pitch.
Lindor had a front row seat to Senga’s outing and saw how effective he was, and kicked himself for contributing to the Marlins rally that wound up deciding the game.
“I felt we played a clean game except two pitches. My two ground balls,” Lindor said. “I take a lot of pride in it. it doesn’t feel good.
I talked to Senga…but it still hurts. I wish I could have done better for Senga.
“He executed all night long. I definitely should be better.”